Love Africa

This picture made us miss home, well, really our grandchildren.  This little guy is an African twin of our grandson Canon.  He has to spend most of the day at his dad's weaving and mom's jewelry stands.  Like Canon, our master builder with whatever scraps he can find, he was busy about his own business.  He found broken pieces of tile and was very intent as he constructed his masterpiece.  No batteries needed.

The children here are beautiful, but I know we've said that before!

 

We have the opportunity to meet so many local people, because they are all so friendly.   Since everyone walks here, it's easy to meet people.  You can stop to talk to almost anyone as you're walking down the street, and they love to talk about Jesus and about the scriptures.  They are very familiar with the Bible.  We are in awe at how clearly they discuss and how easily they understand Gospel teachings.
We are often stopped at police barricades along the roads, and most of the time when they see we are missionaries all they ask us for is a Bible. They are very happy when we share Books of Mormon with them.  I hope we don't go home and try to give police scriptures if they stop us.  Or maybe we will try that.  Elder Watson and Elder Smith are having great conversations.

The roads and people out in the countryside are very humble.  This is a single home on the roadside.  They do have many villages along every road.  Those homes are usually made of mud blocks or cinderblocks.


Transportation is a family matter.  There are motor scooters and motorcycles everywhere.  On her head she has goods to sell at her market stand or along the street.  She may be selling produce from her own garden, goods she or others made, or something she bought from others to sell.  Usually in pictures like this there are also 2-3 children riding between the parents.


We visited Dodowa Branch last Sunday, a wonderful small branch of the Church.  They met in a rented house and had to construct this baptismal font in the back yard.  They often have 5 baptisms a week in these small congregations.


Yes, you can tell by the clothes that this is Elder Fryer's and Gelter's (he was one of our MTC missionaries) P-day preparation day or day to do laundry, grocery shopping, run errands, etc.  But these guys were on a very important errand.
Elder Fryer, on the left, is from Australia.  His grandmother is a member of the Church, but his parents were not.  She took him to church as a boy.  As he approached mission age he decided all he wanted to do was play sports on a college team.  Much to his surprise, his father disapproved.  Elder Fryer said his dad would get him up at 6:00 in the morning before he was to leave for school and lecture him about how he had to go on a mission to be the best person he could and fulfill his commitments.
He realized his dad was right and decided to go on his mission.  After he had been here only a few weeks his father suddenly passed away.
That was one year before this picture.  Elder Fryer was so excited.  He came to ask us to help him prepare his father's records, so that he could go to the temple for his father.   They attended the Temple the next week.  It was an amazing experience.  I have never seen a happier young man. We know his father is proud of him.


I mentioned the deep religious feelings of the people of West Africa.  This is the door to our hotel room in Ho, in the Volta Region.  Many people have similar doors on their homes.  Wouldn't that be neat!?  It shows Christ knocking on the door but no knob on His side.  It is up to us to open the door.  He is patiently waiting to be with us and share all He has with us.  We must invite Him in.

 Can you believe it -- We are over 1/2 way finished with our mission!  We are only now getting the hang of it.  We feel the Lord's guidance and protection every day.  There is a great need for missionary couples, especially in Western Africa.  As they say here whenever you greet someone, "You are welcome."!!
We love you all and are SO grateful for your support and all the news from home.  Our Verizon email is sometimes blocked or late getting to us, so please don't think we are ignoring anyone.  We think of you often.  FYI - there is no Ebola in Ghana.  We are fine.  We pray for those others in West Africa and in the USA who are effected.

Elder and Sister Watson

Akwaba! (our practice at Twi language)

               
 Eta Sen!

We have had great fun and sweet experiences this week.
The first month we were here we visited the old lighthouse downtown and Jamestown fishing village with the Smiths.  The first person to greet us was Joshua.  As we said in our Feb posting, he is 14 years old and a very intelligent, happy boy.  He led us around his village and introduced us to his teacher.  We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he was very excited to read it.  He said he would come to the United States and tell everyone about it!
Last week Elder and Sister Wall were in Makola Market, LARGE outdoor market.  A boy came up to them and asked if they were missionaries and if they knew the Watsons.  It was our Joshua!  He told them he had been reading and talked at length about what he had read.
We will be checking on him next week.

Can you imagine "accidentally" finding anyone in this market that goes on for many blocks with thousands of people. No coincidences with Heavenly Father.  He is always there for us.

 


On our 4 kilometer drives to and from the temple office we encounter many beggars at each corner.  Some are handicapped, others very young or out of work.  We give coins when we can, but most of the time we have packages of cookies and pictures of Christ to give to them.
Yesterday morning a boy about 8 years old lead his blind grandfather to our car at a stoplight.  I gave him cookies and picture.  He looked at me and asked who the picture was.  I told him that this was Jesus, and that Jesus loved him very much, and that he was a very special boy.  He broke out into the biggest smile and said, "That's my God!"  He just kept smiling at the picture.  5 other little boys came running over when they saw us give him something.  We had run out of cookies, but they asked if they could have the picture and were just as excited.  Is it any wonder that Christ loves the little children so dearly!?

We attended a baptism in the Odorkor Ward last week.  Ibrahima Togola had traveled all the way from Mali to be baptized.  He is now one of only 2 members of the Church in Mali!  The first member is the mayor of Ouelessebougou (You can google to find out more about him.).  They meet and talked about the church.  Since the church has no missionaries in Mali, Ibrahima was taught about the church through a friend in Ghana and over the internet by a man he met who lives in California.  He read the Book of Mormon and felt such a love and strong spirit of the truths taught in it, combination with the Bible, that he knew he must be part of it.  He said he was "so excited to be reborn spiritually in Christ."  His family is Muslim, as is most of the country.  His father gave him permission to be baptized.  There was some concern for his safety in becoming Christian.  He was so excited and happy.

Pres/Sister Hill, Accra West Mission, Ibrahima, Smiths, Watsons


We usually attend a different ward or branch somewhere in Ghana every Sunday to help with any needs.  Last Sunday we had the wonderful experience of  visiting the small Tsito Branch in the Volta Region with 35 members attending.  The Branch President said he was so grateful that we missionaries had "descended upon them" and knew our visit would encourage them on.  They did more to inspire us.  Amazing to be way out in the bush of Africa and to hear the same strong testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel and love God has for us, to sing the same hymns, and to have the same Sunday School lessons as at home.  This is the road to the driveway of the small rented house they use for meetings.

How would you like this to be your view from your church doorway!

20 Senior missionaries were invited by some of the Eastern Region Chiefs to attend the Kente Festival, 4 hour drive from Accra.  It's not a tourist activity, but a local celebration of one of their main industries, Kente cloth weaving.  We went to bring the good will of the Church.  We were even pulled into one of the local dances.

At the Festival the children flocked around when they saw electronics (same the world over).  We pulled up church children videos for them to watch, and they were fascinated, beautiful kids.

Getting into the real culture

These women made these pots as we watched.  They don't use potters wheels. They throw the clay on the ground and walk around it carrying children on their backs.  Notice the little guy peeking out from behind.

Love you all LOTS.  Your love and support is a wonderful strength to us.
The Church is true!!  We love the people of West Africa.
Elder and Sister Watson

Here Again, Still!!

We have had so much trouble with Google sign-in over the last 2 months. Wants to reject our sign-in from Ghana.  Working at this moment, so I will try again.
We rode in a leaky canoe up Volta River to visit project at Pediatorkope Island to where children generate their school's electricity with the playground equipment, merry-go-round and swing.  Some of these were set up in villages by BYU.  Elder Watson taught kids his finger snap.

Here are the 9 senior couple missionaries from our apt complex.  There are many others living in other part of the area.  We serve in such areas as Humanitarian, Self-Reliance, Member Support, Family History, Temple, Legal, Public Affairs, Medical, Youth and Young Single Adult Support, Office and Missionary Support, and any other capacity that is of help to the people of West Africa and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at all the BIG smiles!  Missions are GREAT!

Most recently arrived are our couples evacuated from Sierra Leone and Liberia.  They are great and are being reassigned here.  They call themselves the "refuges".  It was difficult for them to get all the missionaries evacuated, but they were able to get the last group out just hours before martial law was declared in Liberia.  It has been very hard to see what is happening to the people of those countries.  They are struggling greatly, but when we speak with them, they say, "We are trying."  Many miracles are happening there, and we know they are in God's care.  Please keep them in your prayers.  The Church is helping with food and medical supplies.

Monrovia, capital of Liberia

Leadership meeting in Bushrod Island, Liberia

This is the bishop's family from Odorkor Ward.  We were lost trying to find our destination (as usual) when they spotted us (we're not hard to pick out).  They drove up beside us, beeped their horn and had us follow them to the ward.  The bishop ran into his meeting, and his wife piled the family out of the car and welcomed us.  Reminded me so much of home!

This is the leadership of the Adenta Stake. They had a FH Stake Fair with about 360 adults and youth attending.  They are holding the stack of family charts turned in by the members to be prepared for their next temple trip.  We are helping with FH Fairs and with the Youth Conferences of "Get to Know Your Grandparents" in a number of areas.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.com.gh/article/church-in-ghana-develops-a-new-family-history-program-for-youth  Check this website for a number of pictures and an article on the Youth Conference we had in Tema Stake.  It is amazing fun.  They are so enthusiastic. 

We hear from home that our Richmond Stake is doing some of the same activities.  Way to go Richmond Youth!!!  You are engaged in a GREAT work that will be a wonderful blessing to you and to generations before you and yet to come.  Thank you.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.com.gh/article/generations-connect-through-personal-histories-and-life-stories  This website has an earlier article on our classes at the African Missionary Training Center in Ghana.  WE have come to love each new group of missionaries.  They are very knowledgeable, spiritual, and dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.

Can't help but include this one.  There is not a lot of TV or evening entertainment.  These 3 missionaries discovered a DVD of the Disney movie "Tangles".  'nough said ....

We love you all and are SO grateful for your love and support.  It is so fun to get all the updates from home.  We are VERY proud of our wonderful family.

I really would be posting more often, but we've had trouble getting into Google, and BlogSpot hangs up.  "Oh, bother."
Missionary work here is truly a blessing in our lives.

Look closely at the reflection in the car rearview mirror. We were going to Ho, a town on eastern side of Ghana, with 3 carloads of missionaries. The main bridge over the Volta River is out, so there is a long wait for a small ferry. One missionary knew of a small side road over an even smaller bridge. We were stopped by a police barricade and told that since we were foreigners we couldn't cross that bridge and would have to turn around. While some of the Elders "discussed" with the police why they should let us through, Elder Watson was at the back of the car discussing the Gospel with a policewoman. He gave her the pamphlet "Plan of Salvation" and a copy of Book of Mormon. I'm so proud of my companion!
I had to take the picture "covertly", because you're not allowed to photograph the police. We took the ferry and still got to the wonderful area of Ho, just took a while.

 

We found our own "Good Samaritan" in Ghana. We were totally lost trying to find a chapel. We stopped at a corner and asked a man standing there if he knew the Church. He said, "Latter-Day Saints, I am coming." (That's an expression for a lot of things, "Follow me", I'll be right back", "Wait a minute"). He jumped on his bike and waved for us to follow. He lead us about a mile thru winding streets and got us right to the chapel. He's not a member. He just did it because we needed help. Wonderful people here.

We are so thrilled to be serving our mission here at the same time as our wonderful grandson Garrett, Elder Watson, Jr, is serving his mission in Anaheim, CA, Spanish-speaking.  He's doing a fabulous job, and we're very proud of him.
One wonderful part of our mission that we had not expected is the opportunity to work with the younger, more energetic missionaries, like our Elder Garrett Watson.  We have found that a great help we can do on our mission is to be a support to them.  They are so capable and willing to serve.  They go out at their own expense, so willing to help, all over the world.  The Church has got to be true for Heavenly Father to send 18-24 year olds all over the world to share His Gospel (to say nothing of having the confidence to send "60 something" year olds) and have such wonderful results.  We are able to give them the love and support, counsel, and, sometimes, homemade cookies, to give them the boost they may need to be successful on their missions.  They are fun to be with them. 
We help with training the new missionaries at the Ghana MTC, Missionary Training Center every other Friday and Sunday and then get go to the Temple with them every other Tuesday & Wednesday.  They are mostly African Elders and Sisters with a few from the USA and, of all places, the South Pacific Islands.
Many of the African missionaries are the only member of their family in the Church, and many of them have lost one or both parents to accident, disease, or war.

The principle of serving or helping the ONE each day has become a fun goals.  We have seen many ONE experiences.  You never know when or where they'll turn up.  When you look for them they always turn up.  I know we are all changed because of these opportunities. Serving the Lord and loving our brothers and sisters in really all about seeking the ONE that we can help each day.  It's not the big things that count.  It's the little things we do for others that really make the difference to them and us.

Our experience with the ONE last week was in working with Elder and Sister Mbele from the Congo Democratic Republic.  They are only the 2nd African senior missionary couple to come through the MTC here.  They speak French so we did a lot a smiling and pantomiming and worked through a translator.  They have been trying to save for 8 years to come to the Temple in Ghana but have never been able to make it.  There are only 3 temples in Africa.  Now that they are going to serve a mission they found themselves right where they had wanted to be.  We went with them to the temple to help as they were sealed together for time and all eternity.  They were also able to be sealed to their 21 year old son who had died and their daughter who had died at age 4 months.  We stood as proxy for his parents as they were sealed and as was he sealed to them. 

Here are a few catch up pictures -
Pat's birthday-Elder Watson found a wonderful restaurant and gathered other missionary couples, from front - Stokers, Smiths, Eltons, Elmers, Bullocks. Best meal we've had!  See the African group behind us? During the meal they did a flash mob and sang part of an Italian opera., then they came and sang "Happy Birthday" to me!!  Turns out they are an African choir.  Good touch Elder Watson.

Driving through bush by Ghana gold mine digs for those who saw TV show.

Check words on back of truck. All trucks, bus, cabs have sayings, most are scriptural.

Visited people of fishing village

 

We love you & appreciate your prayers & support.    -   John 11:25-26

Every day I think, "Wow, this is all so amazing. It can't get any better."  Then I give the V-8 slap and remember we're on a mission in Africa.  Every day is a new adventure.

Had a wonderful weekend visiting the members in Central Ghana. We went to Swedru to help another missionary couple, Elder & Sister Ivie.  It's about 76 kilometers, about 50 miles. Took 3 hours, rough roads.

In small town of Asikuma Ed helped set up the water supply tank (look at those bulging muscles!). A dirt platform had been built, but we can only pray it holds.  The men lifted the tank up, connected it, and then paid a fire truck to come fill it. We also had the women of the village who usually go to the stream come and get water from the truck.

I got to play with the local children. Saw 3 boys playing soccer & asked about their ball.  They had made it themselves by stuffing a plastic bag with pieces of rubber.  Our kids should know to appreciate all we have and know we really don't need to "have" so much to be happy.

Sister Ivie and I taught them to play freeze tag. Within a few minutes more smiling barefoot children came running to join in. We ended up with over 10. They taught us a tribal dance, and we played London Bridge and sang the ABC song.  They were the happiest children I've ever met.  They asked where I was from, and I explained across the ocean (which is 15 miles from them). They know the USA, but one boy said, "What's an ocean?"  Most have never left the village.  They asked for stories and when would we come back to play again.  Their parents were a little suspicious of us at first. Their ministers told them missionaries are there to kidnap them, among other things.  But I think they know now that none of those things are true! 

Members of the Church have contributed to help fund a school for the deaf children of the village, about 15-20. Many go deaf if they get malaria from mosquito bites. They meet outside and have 2 levels of grades. The cook prepares a big lunch for them cooked over a fire.  From what I saw on the 2 chalkboards they are learning to read English and many of the same science lessons we teach in the USA.

Over the weekend we also taught a training meeting for the Winnaba Stake Family History Consultants, spoke in Sacrament Service Sunday meeting, and then were asked to teach the combined Priesthood/Relief Society  (Adult meeting).  At the end of the meeting the Bishop told all the members to come back on Wednesday for everyone to work together on gathering their family history information.  Most came back and we saw about 150 of them at the Ghana Temple Sat with many family names prepared to complete. They are a wonderfully faithful people with a love for their families.
When I get home I want to be the best Ghanaian I can possibly be!

We continue to have the wonderful opportunity of teaching at the Missionary Training Center in Tema, Ghana every other Friday and Sunday as new groups of about 70+ missionaries come through for their 11 days training before leaving for their mission fields in Africa.. We also go to the Temple with them on Tues and Wed to help with their family activities. So far they have completed over 400 family names. These are amazing groups of young people. They come from Burundi, Kenya, Sierra Leon, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Congo, Cameron, Uganda, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and many other African nations. Many are the only members of the Church in their families and many have only one or no parents, because of war, disease or accidents. They've worked to earn the money to serve others in Africa during their 2 year missions. We've gotten very attached to them.

The people here work so hard and are always smiling.  This lady is on her way to set up her stand by the road to sell whatever she has for the day.  They carry everything on their heads.  Stands are everywhere along the road and sellers walk in between the traffic selling everything.  It's like a "drive-thru Walmart".    You have to buy things as you drive by rather than go to stores.  For 5 cedis (about $2) a smiling lady will throw 8 bananas into your car window while running beside the car.  Or you can buy fresh caught big snails to cook for dinner. 

The fishermen go out in the evening and come back in the morning in these big canoes.

We meet the cutest little guy, Joshua, who wanted to show us around. He took us through his small fishing village and up a lighthouse.  We talked to him about why we were in Africa and he was so excited when we gave him a Book of Mormon for his very own. We also got to visit his school and meet his teacher.

People here know of the Church and are very interested to talk about God and Jesus Christ.  We checked out of one hotel we'd stayed at in our travels and saw the clerk was reading the Bible. After talking with him we gave him one of our pamphlets about the Plan of Salvation. As we went to our car 2 other men came running to our car and asked for one. We found out from another couple who checked out after us that all 3 were sitting at the desk reading them 1/2 hour later.

Had an opportunity to visit the Ghana Archives.  I didn't even know they had one. They don't have the funds to preserve their records, so most are just sitting in piles. Sad to see the records and history of a country being lost.

We are loving the blessing of being here to serve and learn from such a wonderful group of people.  We're grateful that Heavenly Father blessed this world with some many diverse and beautiful individuals and cultures.
Everyday we are more thankful that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth in its fullness. It is our testimony that the Bible and the Book of Mormon as true scriptures to guide and help us to know more of our Heavenly Father's love for us.  He knows us each by name and cares about every detail of our lives.  We have a sign in our apartment that says, "The way may be difficult at time, but I will always be there".  We'll never regret being too kind.
We love our family and are so very grateful for all their support.
Thanks for checking with us.  Want to share these 2 pictures we have in our office.